Why Me?
by Rinna81
Summary: Tonks and the death of her mother. EDIT: I know that her mom isn't dead, but I wrote this a while ago.
1. Chapter 1

That Terrible Night

Ding Dong

Seventeen years and one month ago, Nymphadora and Andromeda Tonks were standing outside of Sirius Black's door. Eight-year-old Nymphadora gazed up at her mother, who's eyes remained transfixed on the mahogany door. "Mum, what's in that package?"

She was of course referring to the large cardboard box that was practically strangled with Spell-o Tape. Her mother didn't respond right away, but shifted her weight onto her right foot. "It's a gift for Sirius I suppose. His mother gave it to him so it might be some powder to give him warts."

Nymphadora giggled silently, not fully knowing whether her mum was making a joke or not. Andromeda pounded on the door, her face showing a mixture of grim pleasure and annoyance. A moment later the door clanged open and Sirius was standing there, his hair ruffled slightly.

"Andromeda and Nymphadora what a lovely suprise..." He trailed off, running a hand through his hair and gazing over his shoulder. "Come in, come in." Sirius added in more hushed tones, taking the heavy box from Andromeda. Nymphadora hurried past the two of them, almost making Sirius loose his balance. She began pulling out her pigtails when she ran into the kitchen and froze.

Three unfamiliar people were seated around the dinnertable talking in hushed tones. One was a man, in his late twenties, his hair was a light brown and his eyes were honey coloured. His face seemed aged and tired, and his smile looked strained.

The second was a woman with long auburn hair. Her briliant green eyes stuck out to Nymphadora, but her eyes also looked tired and glazed over. The woman had her hands draped over her pregnant belly and was leaning against the third man who, by the looks of it, was not tired or strained. In fact, he seemed smug and content. He stroked the womans arm and whenever he was finished talking, his mouth was fixed in a permanant smile.

Nymphadora proceeded to lean in the doorframe to watch the strangers, when she lost her balance and crashed into the counter. A loud bang resounded around the room and she watched in horror as a porcelain plate slipped off the surface and crashed to the  
ground.

The three people jumped and all their heads snapped to her at exactly the same time. Nymphadora felt her face grow hot and she was suddenly conscious that she had only one pigtail in. "Er...hello there." said the woman, her eyes gleaming with mirth. Nymphadora turned away not knowing whether to run or just stay put.

Sirius and Andromeda bounded into the room, laughing and talking animatedly when they stared at Nymphadora then the strangers. "I see you all have met Nymphadora over here." Sirius gestured to the youngster and smiled at her. "This is James Potter," the smug looking man waved, "his wife Lily Evans," the red-head nodded at her and grinned, "and this is Remus Lupin." the tired man tried to smile but it came out as a painful grimace. Nymphadora felt pained herself to wonder what awful things memories must reside behind those hurt eyes.

"Repairo! Clumsy old Dora eh? Anyways, guess what my dear ol' mum sent me." exclaimed Sirius, taking a seat across from his friends. He continued to tell them of being sent dark arts objects that bit his hands if he tried to chuck them out. Andromeda soon joined in there discussion and Nymphadora was long forgotten.

She stood in the kitchen area, tugging nervously at her freshly ironed blouse. Normally this would have been the primo location for her. Sirius standing there, maybe wanting to play a game. The refrigerator that contained wonderful candies set aside only for Nymphadora. Yet she felt shy and uncomfortable in the presence of these people to whom she had just met.

After what seemed an eternity, Andromeda stood and said, "I'll take a look at those rebelious garden gnomes. Nymphadora, you can stay here for I'll only be gone a moment."

Nymphadora usually would have stuck to her mother's side like glue, but she replied as casually as she could, "No, I'll sit here. I might come over to you later." Dora slowly changed to color of her hair to a bright red, matching Lily's.

Her mother smiled and said, "You look better with brown hair, darling." She departed and suddenly Nymphadora felt all alone.

"Come sit over here, love." said Sirius in his muzzy tone of voice he used only for her. She stumbled over and plopped down on his lap and quickly changed her hair brown. She reckoned that her mother was right that she looked better.

Lily, Remus, and James all gave her looks of pure astonishment. 'Blimey' James mouthed as Lily spoke, "You're a Metamorphmagus?"

Her mouth remained slightly ajar as Nymphadora nodded. "Yep!" Sirius grinned ruffling her hair with his free hand (his other one was  
clutching a cup of tea). An awkward silence followed, when Nymphadora whispered, "I'm going to go and see my mum." She slid off  
Sirius' lap and strolled through the hall to get to the open front door, glad to be away from such prying eyes.

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**A/N: Finally got around to editing this. :) **


	2. Chapter 2

The White Corpse

Nymphadora pushed the door open and stepped out into the dim light. It was around six o'clock so the sun was almost set.

She gazed down the eerie street and jumped back as the streetlamps flickered on. Nymphadora walked down the cement steps until she reached the front lawn. She carefully walked onto the grass, hoping no garden gnomes were going to attack her. "Mum?" Her voice carried across the block.

No response came and she hugged herself against a brisk wind. Nymphadora tread along the edge of the brush, the only sound she heard was the squish of mud underneath her feet. "Mum?" She called again, starting to feel anxious. 'She must be playing a trick on me.' she reassured herself.

Nymphadora was about to turn around to go back to the front door when something caught her eye. It was the glint of a gold charm bracelet which she knew her mum wore. She walked toward the spot the glinting came from and stretched out her hand to touch the bracelet. The moment the chain grazed her skin, her eyes narrowed, trying to see through the pressing dark. Nymphadora extended her arm a bit more and felt something cold and hard on her fingertips.

Before she knew it she was screaming. Her cries pierced the cold night air and her tears fell onto her outstretched hands that were now wrapped around her mother's corpse. "Mum...mum please don't be dead!" She choked out through her sobs.

"Look at me."

Nymphadora twitched and flicked her head up, fear bubbling up inside her. A man stepped out of the shadows, his face concealed by a black hood. She felt her legs start to tremble but she remained at her mother's side, clutching her dead hand.

"Who are you?" whispered Nymphadora, not suprised to hear her voice come out in a hysterical shriek. The cloaked man did not respond but raised his hand that was holding a wand.

"Ava-"

"STUPEFY!"

Before the man could finish his legs gave way and he dropped to the ground, unconscious. Four figures came running to Nymphadora, who was now screaming and crying at maximum volume.

She beat her fists on her mother's stomach screaming disconjoined words like, "Wh- No- I'll- Please don't-" Her eyes were blurred and the four people were sliding in and out of focus. They were talking in urgent tones, but she didn't hear them. All she cared about was her dead mum whose mouth was open and a look of horror in her face.

"Nymphadora, come on now. You must get up." She felt someones hands underneath her armpits bringing her to her feet. Her legs couldn't support her and she kept falling to the ground when the man picked her up. Nymphadora closed her eyes and felt tears seep out through her closed eyelids and tickle her cheeks. Her mind was racing and bursts of color were appearing, soon she became to tired to think and fell into a confused black spiral.

A few hours later her eyes snapped open. People were standing over her, who looked like they were watching a dying person. Nymphadora sat up and struggled to stand, but strong arms pushed her back into a laying position. "Dora, you need to rest now." Sirius. She recognized his voice and reached out to him, her eyes blurred by fresh tears.

"Sirius? Where's my mum? Is she dead? Don't tell me she's dead." She spoke fast and unclear, her mind screaming with the possibilities that her mother was dead.

Sirius didn't answer her question but said quietly, "We need to go to a secret place, okay? I'm going to have to hold you as I apparate." Nymphadora felt him lift her trembling body and hug her tight.

She felt as if she was being pulled through a vacuum cleaner and as soon as it happened it stopped. Nymphadora opened her bloodshot eyes and her feet touched the ground. Sirius still had his hands holding her arms, and as she looked up at him she noticed he was gazing somewhere else. She turned around and saw Lily, James, and Remus standing near her and four other people she did not know.

"Hello Nymphadora." The new woman said smiling tightly. She had long red hair, tied up in a bun. Her eyes were dark brown and warm, and they reminded Nymphadora of her mother's eyes. "I'm Molly Weasley, this is my husband Arthur," she jerked her head towards the tall man with equally red hair, "and these are our two sons. This is Bill, he's seven years old, and this is Charlie who's five." Nymphadora sunk to the floor and felt her arms go numb. "Is she okay?" she heard a little boys voice say right before everything went black.

**Okay, okay, okay. I know that she passes out a lot in this chapter. I swear it'll get better! If there are any mistakes about Bill and Charlie's age or something just tell me! Flames will be extinguished.**


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